Clemson center Viktor Lakhin could be the key to a deep postseason run

This season, the Clemson Tigers have every reason to dream of another deep run in March. Following last season’s Elite Eight appearance, it could be argued that the 2024-25 Tigers are an even bigger March threat than the team that shocked many by making so much noise in the NCAA Tournament a year ago.

Certainly, Clemson is playing some of its best basketball since the calendar flipped to 2025 and one of the players powering the team’s surge has been senior center Viktor Lakhin. In fact, he could be the key to the Tigers’ postseason aspirations.

Conventional wisdom suggests that the NCAA Tournament is dominated by guards. Fortunately, Clemson is well-stocked at that position with Chase Hunter (17.0 points per game) and Jaeden Zackery (10.6 points, 3.3 assists per game) forming one of, if not the best backcourt in the ACC.

However, the 6-foot-11 Lakhin might be the one who unlocks Clemson’s full potential. Though his averages of 11.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game won’t earn him a ton of national recognition, he’s proven to be a barometer for Clemson this season.

As Lakhin goes, so does Clemson (typically)

In most games, Clemson can count on double-digit scoring from Chase Hunter, the team’s unquestioned star. In fact, he’s scored in single digits only three times this season.

Lakhin has been a different story. An X-factor for the Tigers, he has 15 double-digit scoring games and 11 single-digit scoring games. Along the way, the transfer from Cincinnati has been huge in determining Clemson’s success.

There is a telling metric called “Game Score” which tries to assign value to a player’s productivity during a single game. On that scale, 10.0 is considered an average performance while 40 is considered out of this world.

Thus far, according to SportsReference.com, Lakhin has seven games with a Game Score of 15.0 or better. In those games, Clemson is 6-1.

Included in that batch of games are his 22-point, 4-rebound effort in the win over No. 2 Duke and his 22-point, 6-rebound showing in the win over North Carolina just two days later. In fact, five of his seven games with a 15.0 game score have come against ACC teams.

The only game that Clemson lost when Lakhin had a Game Score over 15.0 was the 87-82 overtime defeat to a Memphis team that was 8-2 at the time and which is currently 21-5 on the season. In that game, Lakhin was excellent with 23 points and 11 boards.

On the other hand, Clemson has struggled when Lakhin has been a non-factor. In the seven games that have seen him post a Game Score lower than 5.0, Clemson has gone just 4-3.

Included in those games are the OT loss to South Carolina in which his Game Score was -0.8 as he put up just four points and six rebounds while playing only 15 minutes, the inexplicable home loss to Georgia Tech in which he had a Game Score was -0.1 as he posted only five points and three rebounds in 16 minutes, and the loss at Louisville when his Game Score was just 3.5 as he gave his team only seven points and seven rebounds despite playing 23 minutes.

Of course, staying on the floor is also imperative for Lakhin. It is no coincidence that his two worst games in terms of Game Score are also the two games this year that he has fouled out.

Ultimately, Hunter is going to get the headlines as Clemson’s best player. He’ll be the one who if profiled at the start of each game simply because he’s Clemson’s best NBA prospect and the most dynamic scorer on the roster.

However, keen observers know that Lakhin is the player who seems to have the most impact in determining whether or not the Tigers play up to their full potential. Fortunately, as March approaches, he seems to be playing with as much confidence as he has all season and that could bode well for Clemson’s hopes of being a team that plays deep into March again this year.